A BJD owner who wants to restart? Anyone ever felt this way?

I currently only have one doll left, a LE Soom Bazael. I feel for him the same way you might feel about a childhood teddy bear and I would be deeply saddened to lose him. Even if another were available in the mp, it wouldn't be the same as I gave him his face up which is like breathing life into the doll!^^ It wouldn't put me off wanting to still collect dolls though, but I would miss HIM terribly.

 

Oh, if I had to start all over again? I'd cry.
I've got a few modded-hybrids that I could never replicate again. A minimee that I've never ever seen up for sale, a doll in a skin colour that the company never "officially" offered (& has now discontinued everything) VERY-limited-off-topic dolls that I would not be able to find again... Faceups by artists who currently no longer paint... and so on... (not to mention all their STUFF!!) TT___TT

And it's not just those; many of my "Basic" dolls have a huge amount of sentimental value; that even if I did replace them with the exact same sculpt with default faceup - it wouldn't BE the same doll given to me on my 21st by my boyfriend.

I don't think I'd get the same dolls I currently/used to have, I couldn't 'replace' them... but I don't know... I'd probably only get a couple and just spoil them all crazy... >w<

 

OMG you mean like all of my doll would be destroyed in a fire??? That would be the worst hell of a day ever...

I could replace some of them I think but I'm not sure if it would work to replace my most loved one. I know PKF Luna is not limited or anything, it would be easy to replace her but it still wouldn't be the same. This thread will bring me nightmares...

 

I probably wouldn't start over. It's not that my dolls are irreplaceable, but I don't think I'd want to just drop that much money now into the hobby.

 

I would replace mine. I only have 2 so it wouldnt be that hard to do. If i had more i would prob only replace the ones that i enjoy the most.

 

I would be completely heartbroken at first and would probably hold off on it for a while, but I think eventually I would rebuild my collection. I might pick some different sculpts for different characters, but I would still rebuild my crew.

 

I actually have a friend who DID lose her dolls in a fire. She had to choose between saving her animals or her dolls, so the dolls burned. Horrible to be helpless and letting them burn, but she made the right choice without hesitation. It was awful and for days, I couldn't leave Amir alone and took him to work, keeping him no more than 10 feet from me at any given time so I could grab him and run if something happened.

I don't think I'd sink nearly as much money back into the kiddos as I already have. It has taken nearly 5 years to get the crew I do have. It would a be a HORRIBLE loss and I think I'd be just too scared to risk it again. I think I'd bring back Amir, Loki, Hansel, Mikko, Heath and Kaid, maybe Parker and Zack, but not the rest. Though it would be really hard since Loki is an event head, Hansel's resin has changed and I don't like the new one and Mikko was more than a pain to get in the first place.

My bff (Ivory Stardust) lives in Kansas and at any given time, she usually has 2-5 of my dolls at her house, so absolute worst scenario possible, IF I lost my house and everything in it, I'd still have at least a couple of dolls safe with her.

 

It wouldn't really be the same to replace a doll. They're all individual so no two are exactly the same anyway.

None of the ones I have or am getting would be hard to replace but I think you bond with a specific doll more than the sculpt.

That being said, I probably wouldn't buy the exact same sculpt just because it wouldn't feel the same to own it the second time.

 

A lot of my dolls are limited editions, so it would be extremely difficult to replace my collection. Some of the dolls I own are rarely if ever seen on the second-hand market (my AH Raul is one of only fifteen in existence) and many of them were obtained either directly from the company or at a really good second-hand price, so they would be very expensive to replace.

Honestly, I'd probably quit the hobby. I might decide to pick up one or two new dolls, but I don't think I'd want to try and replace my current collection.

 

I wouldn't rebuild the entire collection...
While some of my dolls are pretty common standards, others would be difficult (or nearly impossible-) to replace for reasons of price, or availability, or simply because they have mods or face-ups done by artists
who aren't around any more to reproduce them.

I would probably find another Shiwoo pair to replace Harumatsu and Tien Jen, a Breakaway to replace the Alabaster Prince and an Amakusa to replace Hideo... and I'd spend the next x-number-of-years looking for an Elf Shiwoo to replace Teacup... But the rest? Nah.

I've had fun with these guys while I've had them, but I don't think I'd feel any particular drive to go through collecting the whole lot again.

 

I would start over. Even without heartbreak of disaster or loss I have restarted my doll family a few times. For me, all my dolls must be within a close size range of each other or else it will drive me crazy. I've had dolls I loved so much and even do still love years later after I've sold them, but I couldn't keep them not being the same size as the majority of my dolls.

I've had all MSDs, all YoSDs and plan to go all SDs this next time around and I hope that sticks. I find restarting to sometimes be a cleansing experience, as messed up as that may sound. :P Sometimes it's just nice to sell everything of one size and start from scratch, it's like a whole new adventure. You never know what you'll do differently this time that you didn't do before and how that may change your views on certain dolls.

In some ways, when I restart I have gotten the same doll again. There's one face sculpt I love and the company has that same sculpt in each of their available sizes. So whenever I move to a new doll size I always know that face is going to be the first one I purchase every time.

 

The one BJD that I would definitely have to attempt to replace is my Bambicrony Tan Ellen. She is by far my favorite girl in the collection. She is also my best doll for posing. It's not easy to find a Bambicrony doll that is easy to pose. But they are among the most beautiful dolls to look at! Unfortunately, Tan Ellen of her vintage (June 2010) is also very limited and would be hard to find.

 

Wow that's an interesting question. I think i would get my first doll a Dollfamily Xiangyi with default face up again, but for the other dolls I think I would buy my grail doll (who ironically is on my wishlist for 4 years) instead.
It would be also really hard if I wanted to get them again because two of them are limited dolls and one is a hard to get hybrid. so yeah

 

I am thinking lately of having them insured, to be honest, just to be sure that I can at least get "back" one or two by buying the same sculpts and making a duplicate with wig, face-up and clothing. I am doing most of it myself, so I could repeat it all. But let's face it, getting limiteds or discontinued dolls "back" is nearly impossible, so some would be lost forever.

I think I would be really, really heartbroken if they all were lost in a desaster.

 

I've gone through losing two non-ABJDs that were very precious to me, and even though the artist herself replaced them, it's not the same as having the dolls I lost. If I were to lose my current collection of ABJDs, all are limited, some no longer made, and would be very difficult if not impossible to re-buy. I love dolls, so I would probably still be into ABJDs, but I don't know if I could ever really replace my current collection and not feel somewhat sad about the loss of the originals.

But if I could in effect wind the clock back, knowing what I know now, there are only only a handful of tinies in my collection that I probably not purchase. Mainly because the amazing posing capabilities of Fairyland's Pukipukis have spoiled me for everything teeny that came before. And I've also discovered that Real Pukis are too teeny and anything smaller, are really too tiny for me. Overall for me though, it's not the dolls I bought/have, it's the ONE I foolishly didn't buy when I had the chance....hence see my signature.

Juli DC

 

Like a good number of people here, quite a few of my dolls are not really replaceable because they were limited runs, the company doesn't make that sculpt/skin colour anymore or the company is simply gone. I'd be devastated.

Even the one I'd most likely want to replace (because he's my favourite) probably wouldn't happen as the company doesn't make his skin tone anymore although the sculpt is a standard one. His partner is not possible either as he was a collaboration and limited to 38 and I've never seen another here in any galleries/photos never mind the MP.

 

I'd probably try to start over, but it would definitely take me some time before I even started considering it again, I'm sure. Maybe I'd only concentrate on getting a few certain dolls back instead of the whole crew.
The first that came to my mind when I thought about the scenario were my Mono and my Dias, so I see that as a little hint about who's most important to me. Thankfully, I probably wouldn't have much trouble getting these molds again, it's just if I'd really like them as much.
The rest I don't know about, but these three are a tad bit more special to me because of the characters they represent. So just getting duplicates might not be so satisfying in the end, I'm not sure.

And the emotional aspect aside, there's these small things about the dolls themselves that would be different, and when it comes to things I'm that attached to, unexpected change really bothers me. For example, my Mono has turned the perfect skin color for his character's design over the three years that I own him now, through losing a good portion of the red pigment in his resin. A new one in the same normal skin tone would still look vastly different to me. Or how my Dias have slightly different teeth despite obviously being the same head, which I think is adorable and fits them really well. That would be different too. Just little things like that.

 

My current crew aren't really replaceable - not only due to owning LEs/event heads and a doll that's not being manufactured in the tan skin tone any more, but because they mean a lot to me. The one who would be the easiest to replace (Juri event head) would be the hardest to recreate again and get just "right" - he's my favourite out of all of my characters and dolls, and losing him would gut me completely.

So it's hard to say if I would try to start over or not. I'd probably get more sculpts that I've always wanted, but after the initial heartbreak of losing my current crew, I'm not sure if trying to replace the ones I have now would be in the cards.
(dear me this is hard to think about. Thank goodness it's only hypothetical!)

 

Yeah, a lot of my dolls are also irreplaceable. Either because of limited runs, or simply because the company discontinued both the color and mold (thank you Leekeworld, for taking what was once a basic doll and making it impossible to replace).

Not to mention, I don't think I'd have the energy to replace my entire collection. Not only for the money, but the time and life I put into my dolls. It was so much work to get them where they are now, if it were to be wiped out completely....I'd be too depressed to start over. I might try and replace some of my more important ones, but it could never be the same. My MD Ryu might be a standard doll but he has too much history for me, a new one wouldn't be him. And I can't even begin to touch on my Kara Klums...one of them was my first doll, I can't just buy him again at this point, it's not the same at all - I don't even see all the other Kara Klums like I see my first.

Like others have said, I would probably have to leave the hobby, I'm not sure I could handle sticking around after something like that.

 

I can't replace my dolls. In my mind, the doll characters actually embody those exact resin bodies and can't be separated from them anymore. If the sculpts were destroyed, the characters would be "dead"... or they'll live in my mind but I won't be able to reshell them because those new bodies would not be theirs and I know I won't be able to see an old character in a new body.

I would probably leave the hobby. Like VampireAngel13, I've invested not only my money but my life into my dolls, and I can't recover that. If I still have energy I may start a new collection, but it will be severely diminished in every way.